PART III.
As the combs get drawn out and filled with brood and honey, more room will be required by the swarm in the hive. This may at first be given by putting fresh frames fitted with foundation into the stock-box. When the stock-box is quite filled with frames and bees, and still more room is required, it will be time to think of putting on the surplus honey-chamber, or super.
There are two kinds of super, the rack of sections, and the box of shallow frames.
The bee-keeper who wishes to work for honey-in-the-comb uses the rack of sections. This consists of a light wooden rack, usually made to contain twenty-one little wooden boxes called sections, each of which when finished by the bees will contain about one pound of honey-comb (E in the illustration). The section (A) is cleverly cut from one strip of wood, which has three V-shaped cuts across it to form the corners, and is dovetailed at each end, so that it can be folded up very easily by the bee-keeper, something after the style of the outer case of a match-box. In the figure are shown a section in the flat and the same when folded (A, B).
THE EVOLUTION OF A SECTION OF HONEY-COMB.
B, C.—The work of the bee-keeper.
D, E.—The work of the bees in the hive.
A starter of comb-foundation is as necessary for sections as it is for frames, otherwise the bees might build the honey-comb across the sections, joining them all together, and necessitating cutting the combs to get them apart. For this purpose a saw cut is generally made in the top bar of each section in which a strip of a specially thin description of foundation, called super foundation, is inserted (C).
The sections are placed in the section-rack in seven rows, each row consisting of three sections. Between each row a thin sheet of tin or wood, called a separator, is placed. The object of the separators is to ensure the face of the combs being flat, the bees leaving a uniform space of about a quarter of an inch between the separator and the face of the comb. The sections are held in place by means of a dummy-board and spring at the end of the last row.
The rack of sections is now ready to be placed upon the stock-box. You will notice that openings are cut in the edges of the top and bottom bars of the sections. The openings in the bottom bar are to enable the bees to gain access to the sections from the frames below. Often the end bars are similarly cut; when this is so the bees can travel from section to section in the rack.
RACK OF SECTIONS.
To prevent the queen bee from going up into the super to deposit eggs in the combs which are intended to receive honey only, it will be necessary to place a queen-excluder between the stock-box and the rack of sections. The queen-excluder is a sheet of zinc which is perforated all over with holes; these are large enough to admit the workers, but just too small to let the queen pass through.
Choose a fine warm day for putting on the super. Midday, when the bees are flying freely, is the best time for the operation.
I will suppose that this is the occasion of the beginner’s first attempt at examining the interior of the hive, and will therefore go into the method of procedure somewhat fully.
Several articles will be necessary.
The bee-veil will, of course, be worn on this occasion. A screwdriver may be useful for prizing up the ends of the frames, the bees having a habit of fastening down everything inside the hive with a sticky substance called propolis, which they collect from the buds of certain trees and plants. This substance is used more freely by the bees towards the close of the summer than at present.
The most useful appliance employed by the bee-keeper is unquestionably the smoker, for by its means the bees can be quieted and put into such a condition that almost anything can be done to them. Smoke for the bees might be compared to the anæsthetic of the surgeon, but it is not intended to stupefy them. Experience and judgment are required in using the smoker, and perfection cannot be attained at once. A few directions, however, will be useful.
It is very important that the smoker be charged with smouldering material that will not go out as long as it is wanted. The best fuel is perhaps a strip of brown paper rolled up loosely in the form of a cartridge, so that the air may have free circulation through it, but see that the brown paper is of the right kind, as some sorts are almost sure to go out in a few minutes’ time, while others again are equally liable to burst out into flame. Dry touchwood makes very good fuel for the smoker, seldom going out when once well alight. Old rags, dried fungus, etc., are also said to be useful, but on no account use any strong or poisonous smoke, such as would be produced by burning tobacco or sulphur. When not being used, the lighted smoker should be stood upright, in the position shown in the figure (see last paper); this will help to keep it alight by the better circulation of air.
The object of the smoker is to quiet, not to stupefy, the bees; it should not therefore be used too freely. After the roof of the hive has been removed, a few light puffs of smoke may be given under the edges of the quilts, and perhaps another in the entrance, the bees often replying by a deep low hum. Now wait a minute or two, so that the bees may prepare for the operation by gorging themselves with some of the newly-gathered honey, and then, having got them into a good temper, we may commence work without delay.
If we wish to ascertain the condition of the bees, we may lift a frame gently out of the hive, examine it, and then replace it speedily so that the brood shall not get chilled, care being taken not to crush any bees in so doing.
The bees may now begin to show signs of restlessness, “boiling over” the tops of the frames. This must be checked by the administration of a few more puffs of smoke.
SHEET OF QUEEN-EXCLUDING ZINC.
If, as the result of our investigation, we have found that the colony is in an advanced enough state to make use of the super, the quilts must be removed, and the sheet of queen-excluding zinc laid over the frame in place of them. The rack of sections will then be placed on the queen-excluder, the quilts being now transferred to the top of the sections. If the rack of sections does not quite cover the tops of the frames in the stock-box, any spaces that are left round the sides should be covered over with strips of stout cloth. The operation is then completed by putting on the lift and roof.
In doing bee-work like the above, care must be taken not to jar the hive. Bees do not like vibration of any kind, and nothing upsets them so easily as rough handling.
Never open the hive with no definite object in view, except just to see how the bees are “getting on,” but make up your mind beforehand what has to be ascertained or done, and then carry it out as promptly and effectively as you can, closing up the hive as soon as your object has been accomplished. Things that should always be noted in opening a hive are (1) the presence of plenty of food in the shape of sealed or unsealed honey, and (2) the presence of healthy brood in all stages, including eggs; these last, owing to their small size, will require a little looking for at first. If some of the brood appears to be rotting, emitting a more or less foul smell, your bees have contracted a serious infectious disease which, to be successfully dealt with, requires the immediate assistance of a competent expert. This disease is known as “foul brood,” and it is now sadly prevalent in many parts of this country, owing chiefly to the lack of effort on the part of careless bee-keepers in stamping it out. The symptoms and treatment of foul brood will be described in a later paper.
Do not let an accidental sting or two interfere with your work; the pain will go off in a minute or two, but in cases where the whole colony is allowed to get into an irritated state, the only way of reducing it to order will be to leave the work in hand and subjugate them with repeated smoking, but this is hardly good advice to the beginner.
I know of no really effective remedy for bee-stings. Many things are recommended as being more or less beneficial, such as blue-bag, dock-leaf, the juice of the fig-tree, etc. The best thing to do is to extract the sting at once with the poison-bag attached, taking care not to compress the latter, and then apply a little strong liquid ammonia; this will have the effect of somewhat neutralising the poison, which is acid. Sucking the spot before the poison has time to disseminate itself in the blood, does good. These measures, if taken promptly, will considerably alleviate the unpleasant after-effects of swelling and irritation which sometimes follow. The poison contained in the bee-sting does not seem to be really harmful to the system; the chief danger seems to be in excessive swelling, but such cases are so rare that the beginner has no ground for apprehension.
Though most people like sections of comb-honey, some prefer to have the extracted honey, which, when put up in bottles or jars, is a more convenient article for winter use.
In former times the only way of separating the honey from the comb was by cutting the honeycomb up and letting it drain through a canvas-strainer in a warm temperature. This process is apt to be a messy and tedious one, and the honey produced by it is more or less deep in colour from the large amount of pollen that it contains.
Nowadays, thanks to the invention of the honey-extractor, we may extract the pure, clear honey from the comb without having to cut it up, and the same frame of comb may be returned to the bees again and again, to be repeatedly refilled with honey, thus saving the bees a large amount of labour in comb-building. The details and working of the honey-extractor will be fully described in the next paper.
Frames of comb intended for extracting are usually not so deep as the ordinary standard frames in the stock-box: they are then called shallow frames, and the super containing them is called a shallow-frame box. The shallow-frame box is made like the stock-box, and contains generally ten shallow frames fitted with metal ends. Each frame must, of course, be fitted with at least a starter of comb-foundation, and in placing the box of shallow frames on the hive, a sheet of queen-excluding zinc should be placed under it, as with the rack of sections.
Those who are going to use shallow frames will also now need to procure a honey-extractor. A good extractor costs from eighteen to thirty shillings.
Often a colony is strong enough to take two supers at one time, one under the other. In this case the second one should be placed underneath the first, after the latter has been on the hive for about a week. A rack of sections may be used with a box of shallow frames, or two racks of sections and two boxes of shallow frames may be used instead, if desired. A swarm like the one I am describing is, however, very seldom able to fill two supers at once during its first year, because it does not commence work until a part of the season has passed, and the stock-box has to be filled before work can be undertaken in earnest in the supers.
(To be continued.)